St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church
St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church is in an area still known as Japantown in San Luis Obispo. The Nippon Tract was developed by the Eto family and thrived in the 1930s as a Nihonmachi (Japantown) until the forced removal of its Japanese-American residents and businesses in 1942. After the war, the still-vacant homes were occupied by a largely African-American population, some of whom had trained at nearby Camp Merriam. In 1947, residents acquired the building on Brook Street from a local Methodist group to organize the Springfield Baptist Church, one of the first African American churches in the city. The congregation moved to a different location, but some members left to form the St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church and returned to Brook Street.
San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County
Images by Andrew Schmidt